2003, was a significant year for Breezy music. 5 studio albums down and a definite shift in production & quality from the primitive offerings of the first couple of years. Each of the previous albums had seen a marked improvement and the challenge for "I would if I could but I can't" was to continue the trend. Perhaps this is reflected in the title.
However, technology was moving quickly, an investment in new equipment and software gave me an opportunity to learn some different techniques and create a different sound. Whilst unrealised at the time, "I would if I could but I can't" was almost a eureka album for me. The feel and look of the album sees a step change in the Breezy music catalogue. This album would become not only a benchmark album, but "the beginning" of things to come.
The album was not without some difficulties though, 2 tracks, "The Beginning" & Temperature were hampered by technical difficulties in both production and recording. Temperature is completed, but plans to rework it were abandoned when a combination of user interface error and resulting software malfunction caused the loss of the entire track and its component loops/riffs. The Beginning, which was not called the Beginning, in the beginning was also condemned to the same fate. However, as it was not completed, it found its' way onto the album as track 1. The Beginning. Attempts to re-create both tracks failed but from the ashes "New Dawn" and "Weird day" were created.
"I would if I could but I can't" was pieced together throughout 2003 whist juggling a full time job and raising a 2 year-old girl, many of the titles reflect the moods and thoughts of what was happening in my life at the time. 2 late, Weird day, Pandemonium, My head hurts and You don't realise, whilst something for the weekend, refers to the cashflow problems raising a child can bring. Dolphins is an experiment with vocal samples and harmonies, whilst Riverdance started out as an attempt at house music.
"I would if I could but I can't", thanks to my new box of tricks, was heavily influenced by "Techno" music - artists like "The Prodigy" and "The chemical brothers" have caps doffed in their general direction this influence moves the album in a new direction from the earlier albums making this album one of the most definitive & unique albums in the Breezy back catalogue.